Senate to look at toy marketing

The role toy marketing plays in driving gender stereotypes will be at the centre of a Senate inquiry into preventing domestic violence.

Greens senator Larissa Waters, who co-sponsored the inquiry, said research showed rigid gender stereotypes and inequality correlated with high rates of domestic violence.

"It's important we examine the messages that we're sending to young children that reinforce those gender stereotypes that can ... feed into the circumstances that can lead to strife later down the track," she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.